Origins and 1920s Speedway arrived at Wembley in 1929, the year after the new dirt-track racing sport that had arrived from Australia. The first speedway event held at Wembley Stadium (known as the Empire Stadium at the time) was on 16 May 1929, with an individual meeting won by
Roger Frogley. A team called the Lions was created and they were founder members of the
1929 Speedway Southern League, one of two leagues that came into existence that year (the other being the
1929 Speedway English Dirt Track League or Northern league). The team finished 5th behind
Stamford Bridge in the league standings.
1930s The Lions soon became one of the leading teams in the United Kingdom, winning the
Southern League in 1930 and 1931, the inaugural
London Cup in 1930 and the inaugural
National Trophy in 1931. Riders'
Jack Ormston and
Colin Watson both recorded averages over ten. In 1932 Wembley were founder members of the new
National league (a merger of the Southern and Northern leagues) and remained the team to beat as they secured the first National League title, in addition to winning the National Trophy and London Cup. Despite riders Ormston and Watson underperforming there were several other riders that stepped up including
Ginger Lees and New Zealander
Wally Kilmister. The 1939 season was halted by the outbreak of
World War II but not before Wembley were declared joint winners of the National Trophy with Belle Vue. Both teams had progressed to the final which had been due to take place on 16 September.
1940s Individual meetings were staged in 1945 but the Lions returned for the
1946 Speedway National League (first post-war league season) with a new team that included
Bill Kitchen,
Tommy Price and
George Wilks. The Lions dominated the season, winning their second UK title and fourth London Cup. The following season they retained their title with relative ease. National Trophy and London Cup triumphs in 1948 were followed by the Lions ending the decade by winning a fourth UK league title in 1949. Rider's
Freddie Williams,
Split Waterman and
Bill Gilbert were instrumental in the continued success.
1950s The 1950s brought an unprecedented period of success for the Wembley Lions starting with a successful defence of their league crown in 1950, which was then followed by three more league titles. The five consecutive wins from 1949 to 1953 had eclipsed Belle Vue's
four from 1933 to 1936. The Lions riders Tommy Price (1949 world champion) and the Welsh brothers Freddie Williams (twice world champion in 1950 and 1953) and
Eric Williams were particularly dominant during this period. However, at the end of the 1956 season the Lions withdrew from the league before the 1957 season started due to the death of
Sir Arthur Elvin, the chairman of
Wembley Stadium. During this era, speedway went through the biggest crowd "boom" in its history. Wembley, who ran league meetings every Thursday, had by far the biggest crowds. The average weekly attendances were around the 60,000 mark from 1946–1951, with one meeting of note, a London Cup match between Wembley and West Ham, drawing an estimated crowd of 85,000 with 20,000 locked outside, listening to a BBC radio commentary of the match via loudspeakers set up in the car park. Towards the mid-1950s speedway crowds fell away dramatically and Wembley's last season in 1956 saw average attendances of around the 15,000 mark.
1970s In 1970, Wembley speedway returned, with the Lions entering the
British League. Promoters
Trevor Redmond and Bernard Cottrell bought their licence and the contracts of some of the riders from the
Edinburgh Monarchs promoter Ian Hoskins who was operating at Coatbridge. The Lions only managed to stay in operation for two seasons due to the stadium not being able to support speedway at all times due to commitments to other events being held there. == Big events ==